Prediction

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Sydney face a quick turnaround as they prepare to play their third match in six days against City on Friday night at AAMI Park.

The Sky Blues earned a controversial derby victory over the Wanderers last Saturday night but were brought back down to earth on Tuesday as they relinquished their FFA Cup trophy to Adelaide, with Craig Goodwin firing home two brilliant goals to lead the Reds to victory.

Steve Corica was aiming for his first trophy as a a coach, but he will now have to wait until the end of the season to have a chance at more silverware. In saying that, Sydney are still equipped with one of the strongest squads in the A-League and are unbeaten across their first two league games, drawing with Adelaide in Round 1 before last week’s triumph over the Wanderers.

But will Sydney have enough gas left in the tank to face a confident City side?

After taking out bitter rivals Victory in the Melbourne derby in the opening round, City secured a late point against the improved Central Coast Mariners last weekend, with Dario Vidosic equalising in the 84th minute.

After years of solid but unspectacular seasons, this is the year where City fans are expecting silverware - and if they can claim a big win over Sydney on Friday night, they will set themselves up nicely for the season ahead.

However, City have a terrible record against the Sky Blues, losing their last five meetings, while they’ve only won one of their last six games against Sydney at AAMI Park. But with Sydney still reeling from the disappointment of losing the FFA Cup final and possibly fatigued from three games in less than a week, this represents City’s best chance in a long time to take them out.

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